Man arrested for running US$340-million illegal sports gambling ring
The Haiphong police said July 12 they arrested a 43-year-old man for allegedly running a major sports gambling racket with thousands of clients.
Bui Quang Duong was taken in a month after the police arrested his 23 henchmen in Haiphong, Hanoi and several northern provinces.
Investigators said Duong had been organizing the gambling online since June last year through websites with overseas servers with the total bets adding up to VND7.6 trillion, or over US$340 million.
Following the arrests of his men, Duong fled to Ha Long Town in Quang Ninh Province by boat.
He has confessed to his crime to the police.
The Haiphong police are coordinating with the Ministry of Public Security to find out if more people were part of the gang.
In Vietnam, gambling is illegal.
Last month the ministry had arrested 10 people belonging to a gang that allegedly organized football betting involving thousands of gamblers in Haiphong, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
It reportedly raked in hundreds of billions of dong from bets on football games, mostly played at the recently concluded European championship.
